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48 Keto Cake Recipes for Every Occasion

by Annie Lampella, Pharm.D. Updated

I bake keto cakes for birthdays, holidays, random Tuesdays when I need chocolate. Almond flour, coconut flour, sugar-free sweeteners, and most of them fool people who aren't even eating low-carb. I've got 90-second mug cakes for weeknights and three-layer birthday cakes for when it actually matters.

Can you actually have cake on keto? Yes, and it doesn't have to taste like a consolation prize. Almond flour rebuilds the crumb and sugar free sweeteners handle the frosting, so a slice runs a fraction of the 40 to 70 grams of carbs a bakery slice carries. If you're baking for a birthday, start with my keto vanilla birthday cake. Kids at the party won't know the difference.

Celebration Cakes

Birthday parties, dinner parties, or just a really good Tuesday. These are the cakes I make when I want to impress.

  1. Keto Carrot Cake

    5.6g net carbs 45 min

    I brought this to my neighbor's potluck last Thanksgiving and nobody asked if it was keto. They asked for the recipe. Real shredded carrots, warm spices, and that sour cream cream cheese frosting does all the heavy lifting. 5.6g net carbs per slice.

  2. Keto Vanilla Birthday Cake

    1.7g net carbs 35 min

    Oat fiber and whey protein isolate in the batter, egg whites whipped separately and folded in. That's the part that makes the crumb actually spongy instead of dense. Under 2g net carbs per slice, and it serves 16.

  3. Keto Strawberry Cake

    4.7g net carbs 65 min

    Looks like something from a bakery window. I roast the strawberries first to concentrate the flavor before pureeing them into the batter. Fresh strawberries go into the frosting too. 4.7g net carbs, serves 9.

  4. Keto Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

    5.5g net carbs 50 min

    Six spices, not just cinnamon. The cardamom and cloves together give it warmth that goes beyond basic pumpkin spice. Cream cheese frosting on top. About 5.5 grams net carbs per slice.

  5. Keto Vanilla Birthday Cake

    1.7g net carbs 35 min

    This keto birthday cake is fluffy, moist, and spongy with rich vanilla flavor and a creamy buttercream frosting. I built it with oat fiber and whey protein isolate so it actually tastes like real cake, not a dense, gritty low-carb substitute.

  6. Flourless Chocolate Cake

    2.9g net carbs 65 min

    Under 3 net carbs, zero flour. Just chocolate, butter, eggs, and sweetener. Dense and rich in a way that makes people think you spent hours on it. You didn't.

Cheesecakes

Cheesecake is naturally low-carb friendly, which is why I make it more than any other dessert.

  1. Keto Cheesecake

    3g net carbs 135 min

    More than 15 ratings at 4.8 stars and I still get a little nervous every time I pull it out of the oven. It always turns out. Silky New York style with barely 3 carbs a slice, and it feeds 12 so there's actually leftovers (sometimes).

  2. Protein Cheesecake

    3.4g net carbs 75 min

    30 grams of protein per slice. I make it on Sundays and eat a piece every night that week like it's part of my meal prep, because it basically is. 3.4g net carbs.

  3. Keto Raspberry No-Bake Cheesecake

    4.4g net carbs 40 min

    No oven. Silky filling, homemade raspberry sauce on top. The kind of dessert that looks like effort but takes maybe 20 minutes of actual work. Under 5g net carbs, serves 12.

  4. Keto Pumpkin Roll

    2.7g net carbs 60 min

    Thin spongy pumpkin cake rolled around a cream cheese filling. The rolling part sounds scary but it hasn't cracked on me yet, four Thanksgivings and counting. Under 3g net carbs per slice.

  5. Mini Keto Cheesecakes

    1.4g net carbs 50 min

    Makes 28 bite-sized cheesecakes. A full cheesecake needs plates and forks and serving drama. These, everyone just grabs one. 1.4g net carbs each.

Chocolate Cakes

Chocolate is a whole mood. These are the ones that actually satisfy it.

  1. Keto Chocolate Lava Cake

    4.4g net carbs 4 min

    Four minutes from bowl to table. Molten chocolate oozing out of a warm cake. I still don't fully understand how it works this fast, but it does, every time. Makes 2, under 5g net carbs each.

  2. Chocolate Hazelnut Keto Dump Cake

    2.4g net carbs 30 min

    You literally dump everything into the pan and bake it. The hazelnut flavor tastes like Nutella without the 21 grams of sugar per serving. 2.4g net carbs, serves 12.

  3. Keto Sauerkraut Chocolate Cake

    3.8g net carbs 55 min

    I tell people there's sauerkraut in this cake just to watch their reaction. You genuinely cannot taste it. What you do taste is an absurdly moist chocolate cake that people keep asking about. Under 4 carbs, serves 12.

  4. Black Forest Waffle Cake

    3.8g net carbs 30 min

    Chocolate waffles. Whipped cream. Cherries. Stacked. Black Forest cake built in a waffle iron instead of an oven. 3.8g net carbs, serves 4.

  5. Keto Chocolate Pumpkin Bundt Cake

    5.4g net carbs 70 min

    Looks like it came from a bakery because of the swirl pattern, but it's really just two batters poured over each other in a bundt pan. Pumpkin and chocolate. 5.4g net carbs, serves 12.

Mug Cakes in Two Minutes

Mix in a mug, microwave, eat. For the nights when I want cake but absolutely do not want to turn on the oven.

  1. The Best Keto Pecan Pie Mug Cake

    3.9g net carbs 3 min

    A 4.9 star average from more than 25 ratings and I've probably made it a hundred times myself. 90 seconds in the microwave and it tastes like pecan pie. 3.9g net carbs.

  2. Keto Pumpkin Mug Cake

    5.3g net carbs 4 min

    Two minutes. Warm pumpkin cake. That's it, that's the sell. 5.3g net carbs, a 4.6 rating from more than 20 readers.

  3. The BEST EVER Keto Chocolate Mug Cake

    3.8g net carbs 2 min

    Feels like cheating. Two minutes of effort for a fudgy chocolate cake that actually satisfies the craving instead of making it worse. Under 4g net carbs.

  4. Easy Keto Chocolate Chip Mug Cake in the Microwave

    3.6g net carbs 3 min

    Cross between a chocolate chip cookie and a cake, mixed in a mug and microwaved. I use sugar-free chocolate chips and they melt into little pockets. 3.6g net carbs.

  5. Birthday Mug Cake

    1.5g net carbs 7 min

    My younger son wanted birthday cake on a random Wednesday. This was ready before he finished his homework. Frosting and sprinkles on top, 1.5g net carbs, makes two so I had one too.

  6. Keto Red Velvet Mug Cake Recipe

    3.2g net carbs 5 min

    Red velvet in a mug, and it actually works. The cocoa gives it that signature flavor and the color holds up. 3.2g net carbs, makes 4 servings.

Seasonal and Holiday

I keep a rotation of holiday cakes that my family expects every year. Miss one and I hear about it.

  1. Keto Pumpkin Cupcakes

    4.5g net carbs 28 min

    More than 30 ratings at 4.8 stars. Spongy pumpkin spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, and they make 16 so there's enough for school lunches and after-dinner dessert in the same batch. 4.5g net carbs each.

  2. Keto Pumpkin Dump Cake

    4.1g net carbs 60 min

    Pumpkin pie layer. Yellow cake layer. Pecan streusel on top. Dump it all in the pan, bake, done. 4.1g net carbs, serves 9.

  3. Keto Yule Log

    3g net carbs 60 min

    I tried three Yule Log recipes before this one. The other two cracked when I rolled them. This one hasn't, not once, and I've made it every Christmas since. Barely 3 carbs per slice, serves 12.

  4. Keto Christmas Tree Cakes

    3.8g net carbs 60 min

    Homemade version of Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes. Sugar-free meringue filling, white chocolate coating, the whole thing. They take some time to assemble but the batch makes 20. Under 4g net carbs each.

  5. Keto Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake

    1.7g net carbs 45 min

    Tastes like a cinnamon roll but I don't have to proof dough or wait around. Slice it like coffee cake, serve it at brunch, nobody knows the difference. 1.7g net carbs, serves 12.

  6. Keto Strawberry Shortcake

    2.6g net carbs 30 min

    Why don't more keto sites have strawberry shortcake? The biscuit base is gluten-free, the strawberries are real, and the whole thing is about 2.5g net carbs per serving. Serves 8.

  7. Keto Peach Cobbler

    3.6g net carbs 55 min

    Based on Paula Deen's recipe, which is basically butter and sugar held together by peaches. This version keeps the peaches and the butter but loses most of the carbs. 3.6g net carbs per serving, serves 10.

  8. Keto Trifle

    5.4g net carbs 60 min

    Layers. Berries. Lemon whipped cream. No baking. Serves 20, which is why this is what I bring to summer parties. 5.4g net carbs per serving.

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Keto Ingredients

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